If conditional access is not introduced, the show of strength among broadcasters through their cable distribution network will continue, say sources in the industry. As a result, viewers will continue to be deprived of channels without exercising any choice in the matter. The basic premise on which CAS is based is that a subscriber will be able to choose the pay channel that he wants to watch and pay for only that, with the help of a set-top box. Just like it works in the US and the UK.

Although the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Ms Sushma Swaraj, hasn't said `no' to CAS being introduced, she's not giving any clarifications to cable operators on why there's a delay in bringing about conditional access. Add to that the feelers from government quarters that conditional access will never happen: neither now, nor later.

The Conditional Access System came into focus in 1998 when cable operators presented a model of corporatisation of the cable industry to the then I&B Minister, Ms Swaraj.

Conditional access system unlikely to take off According to Mr Rakesh Dutta, general secretary, Cable Net Association, the corporatisation model included a detailed presentation of the Conditional Access System.

Then in November 1999, the demand for CAS was formally presented to the then I&B Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley. Says Mr Dutta: ``Mr Jaitley had convened a meeting of cable operators on November 16, 1999, when we gave our representation on conditional access to him.''

After keeping it in the back-burner for months, the issue was again taken up by Ms Swaraj in her present stint as I&B Minister. She even placed the proposal on conditional access before the members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to the I&B Ministry in November 2000. Thereafter, there's been no progress on the issue.

Although earlier the government had assured cable operators that no separate legislation was required to introduce the CAS and that it could be implemented through clause 22EA of the Cable Act, now the note on CAS is lying with the Law Ministry. It implies that the Conditional Access System can be introduced, if at all, only with a change in legislation.

Assessing the CAS scenario, Ms Roop Sharma, president, Cable Operators' Federation of India, says: ``I've always maintained that the Conditional Access System just won't take off.'' According to Ms Sharma, the government has never been serious about it.

Mr Vikki Chowdhury, a prominent cable operator, also says that the Conditional Access System is not coming. ``It's too late to introduce CAS. It should have been introduced when the industry started.''

However, it's a loss for both cable operators and subscribers, if CAS is not introduced, it is felt. And says Mr Dutta that the government is not interested in CAS because broadcasters are not. Some broadcasters are bound to feel threatened, if CAS is introduced as it may restrict their monopolistic position, he says.

Under conditional access, broadcasters must give an MRP price for a pay channel. The subscriber, in turn, must make the payment to the cable operator on the basis of the MRP. The cable operator will keep a percentage cut, and give the rest to the broadcaster, thereby bringing market forces into operation. In this context, Ms Swaraj had recently remarked that the conditional access system would end the discrepancy between the declared number of subscribers and the real number of subscribers for a pay channel - which is a bone of contention in the industry.